Contained Emotions
by Courtney Jade Jager
Summary: Levi's sister, Emily, is just as emotionless as him. Nobody knows if either of them can be broken out of their shell or if it's too late for them both. Levi x OC(Beth) Eren x OC(Emily) Mature Content in later chapters.
1. Prologue

**Hello! I'm back after so long with a new fic! So much has happened since I last posted on this site and I'm looking forward to embarking on another journey with you all. Some of this story is inspired from the movie 'Frozen' which I don't own so if you spot any similarities, that's why. Let's get started and please don't hesitate to contact me with questions or feedback **

**Emily: Shingeki no Kyojin or its characters do not belong to Courtney. But I do.**

Knock. Knock. Knock. No answer. Knock. Knock. Knock. Still no answer.

"Levi…. I wanna play!" No answer.

Knock. "Levi" Knock. "Let's" Knock. "play!" Nothing.

The six year old girl slumped her shoulders and walked back to her own bedroom. Her raven hair hung in ringlets which cascaded town her back, reaching mid-way down her legs. Her grey eyes searched her small room for something to do. Something to play with. Something to entertain her… Nothing. She had a petite figure and despite being only six years of age, she had perfect balance and co-ordination. She looked a lot like her father, her small nose and slender fingers mirrored the man's own perfectly, contrasting her older brother whose defined jaw and narrow shoulders reminded everyone of their mother. Both siblings inherited the raven black hair of their mother and their father's grey eyes but whilst Emily wore her hair down, Levi had it styled into a sharp undercut. The young girl believed that looks were the only thing she had in common with her sibling. He was quiet, she was loud. When his temper decreased radically, Emily kept her cool throughout the most infuriating of situations. Where Levi refused to show emotion, his sister laughed constantly throughout her day, which caused others to laugh to.

The sound of her parents returning home snapped Emily out from her thoughts as she rushed to greet them, pulling them both into a crushing bear hug.

"Mommy, Daddy!" Her mother went to go put the groceries away whilst her father bent down to converse with his daughter.

"Emily, how have you been? Have you spoken with your brother?" Emily frowned at her father's words.

"Nope. He's busy being moody in his room as usual!" The child crossed her arms and pouted trying to look annoyed but only managing to look cute. Her father laughed at the expression on her pale face.

"Now, Now Emily… You know your brother lost a lot of friends when _they _attacked three years ago. He's still grieving." Her father patted her back and went to go help her mother as the girl was left in the hall, pondering the statement.

_The titans attacked the village that Levi and his class visited on that school trip. Only a few kids came back, brother included. He lost all of his friends but…shouldn't he have moved on by now? Three years… How many more until Levi is back to normal? _

FOUR YEARS LATER

Emily still didn't see Levi anymore. After another year she got used to the fact that her brother was more or less an empty shell. He never stayed with the family more than he had to. He very rarely went outside and sometimes she forgot what his face looked like. Even when she did remember, she found it impossible to picture him with a smile. That didn't stop her. She still lived her life. She loved adventuring around the village and she rarely entered the house without either a few grass stains or some odd treasure that she found which took the forms of things such as rocks and pennies. Her life was good and she still carried that smile on her face every day, knowing it was contagious to the people around her, she just adored the fact that she could make people smile. She had a dream. She wanted to be one of the heroes on the horses with the wings on her back. She wanted to go outside and fight the titans and see the world. She wanted to explore outside the walls and eliminate the giants. But those aren't the main reasons she wanted to join the Survey Corps. She wanted to join most of all because she knew that Levi was going to join, and the biggest dream she had of all was to connect with her brother. She was intelligent, one of the best in her class. She was more than physically able, but she was 10. Too young to join the military. To young to risk her life. Too young to die.

She kept waiting. She waited to grow up so she could join the military. She waited to explore the world. She even waited for her parents to come and get her and Levi after the titans attacked and they were carried away. She kept smiling as she waited, certain that any moment now she'd see her father and drag Levi along with her to greet them. She kept smiling when a member of the garrison knelt down and told her and her brother that the titans had orphaned them. And then she cried. She collapsed on the floor and cried until her eyes were red, realising that she had lost two of the most important people in her life. Then the unexpected happened. Levi gently grasped his sisters arms and pulled her into his chest, allowing her tears to stain his shirt. She clutched onto her brother for she felt that if she let go, she'd lose him too. And in that moment, her brother said the words that would kill the cheerful, happy girl she was and create another shell to live alongside him.

"Em, you need to block out your feelings. Just like I did. That way, we can't get hurt anymore. If we don't let them in, they can't tear us down, and we'll become humanities strongest."

Emily looked up at her brother with a deadpan, emotionless expression and nodded and he grasped her hand and led her away.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you Em".

FIVE YEARS LATER

Emily opened her eyes and sat up in her bed before glancing at her uniform: a brown jacket with a pair of wings stitched on the side with a pair of white pants, a blouse and numerous complicated straps and harnesses. She stood up in her immaculately clean room and got dressed for the day, her face as straight as her brothers had been for all those years. Five years and not one emotion, not one crack, not one smile.


	2. Just a normal day

**Hi guys, here's the first official chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

Levi tied his cravat with immaculate precision before purposefully exiting his room, closing the door behind him. He walked straight to the mess hall and once inside, he took a seat with his tea, waiting for the liquid to cool down. At the back of the hall Blouse, Springer and Bott were sat together laughing at a joke that one of the brats had made. The young blonde girl, Krista, was sat with the taller brunette whose name had escaped Levi's memory. Ackerman and Arlert were sat, with the new trainee, Beth, their own table looking annoyed at the two teenage boys arguing again. It was always Jaeger and Kirschtein fighting over who was cowardly or suicidal. Personally, Levi agreed with Jaeger; if you don't fight, how can you dare to complain about the shitty situation that the world is in.

Just as Levi was about to get up and kick those brats' asses and load them with cleaning duties for spoiling his breakfast, he saw both teenagers go flying in to the walls on the opposite sides of the room, simultaneously grunting in pain. In the place where they were previously stood, a small girl, about 5'1, took their place. Levi recognised her petite frame. Her curly black hair hung down her back, the sides held up by a butterfly hairpin. The grey eyes showed annoyance at the two boys and they immediately pulled themselves off the ground and saluted the girl, despite being older than her. She stared at them both and gave a sharp nod of her head to signal for them to relax.

"What the hell are you two playing at?" she questioned, angling the question to Eren more than Jean. As usual, the former chose to explain the situation.

"We were having a debate." The brunette answered firmly.

"I'm not a mind reader Jaeger, what was so important for you to both debate about that it had to interrupt my morning?" Jean decided that it would be a smart idea to mutter his own reply under his breath before Eren had a chance to give an answer.

"About how Jaeger's a suicidal bastard…" Emily's eyes widened at this comment but almost instantly returned to her normal deadpan, making anyone who saw it, think that their mind was playing tricks on them.

"And why is he a 'suicidal bastard' Kirschtein?"

"Because he's so obsessed about killing the damned titans that he's not considering the possibility of us _all dying._ One of his little suicide missions is going to get us all killed!" Jean more or less shouted at Emily. The whole hall was silent and staring at Jean. Even Sasha's mouth was hung open, gaping at the older teen. Realising his mistake, Jean attempted to stammer a rushed apology at the ever silent Emily who just stared at him for a few moments before speaking.

"To each their own Kirschtein, but if you are interested in hearing my opinion, I'd be willing to share." Jean looked at the smaller girl and slowly nodded.

"Very well. I believe that the titans should be eliminated. Those who choose to fight should be regarded with respect and not criticized for their beliefs. However, fighting these monsters required both skill and a well thought out plan. Rushing in blindly won't do anybody much good." Jean nodded quickly, still regretting his previous outburst whilst Eren's face was lit up with a smug smirk on his face, knowing that he's won this fight. Emily glanced at the two boys once more.

"Now Kirschtein, I believe Jaeger deserves an apology."

"But-" Emily glared at the older, and taller, boy refusing to be intimidated by his height.

"Unless you want to talk to my brother about the situation?" Emily gracefully gestured towards Levi who stared at Jean, slowly taking a sip from his tea.

"Sorry Jaeger" he muttered under his breath. Eren's smirk grew as he struggled to keep in his laughter.

"Good" Emily replied. "Now wipe that smirk off your face Jaeger and get back to your breakfast" she said before taking a seat opposite her brother. Eren's eyes following her across the room.

"You handled that well, not taking sides despite the obvious fondness you hold for Jaeger." Levi commented with his usual straight face. Emily kept her eyes fixated on the wooden table in front of her.

"Tch, I learned from the best and shut up, I do not like Jaeger. He is merely a person whom holds the same opinions as me." Levi scoffed at his sister's reply, standing up as he drained his tea.

"Anyway, you can talk. You've been eying up that girl from the new squad ever since she arrived. Beth, wasn't her name?" Levi's eyes wandered to said cadet as soon as her name was mentioned. She was laughing and joking at her table her blue eyes glinting in the light and her chestnut hair hanging from her shoulders. Levi felt a flare of jealousy inside him as she put her arm around Arlert jokingly. His sister's hand waving in front of his face brought him back to reality.

"Hey, don't go falling for her. We let nobody in, remember? Then we'll be the strongest." Levi nodded in agreement, his own words coming back to haunt him. There were times when he regretted what he's turned his sister into: an empty shell incapable of feeling emotion but he knew that it was for the best. He had to protect her. She couldn't die.

"I'm not falling" he reassured the teen in front of him, "just admiring the view."

Levi knew that he could keep his emotions under control, but he worried about Emily. He missed her joy. Her laughter. Her smile. He knew that she cared for Eren but she hadn't realised it yet. Levi was just waiting for the day when she knocked on his office door in tears because she needed her big brother to help her with her boy troubles. That would make them seem like a normal family, rather than a pair of titan killing machines, owned by the government to do their dirty work. For now, he just had to settle for wanting to punch Jaeger in the face every time he stared at his sister like she was a goddess. Which was a lot… good thing training in the military had allowed Levi to work on his patience issues.

"Jaeger, you're on cleaning duty for the stables this week" Levi said whilst exiting the hall after kissing his sister on the head as their way of saying good luck for the day. He heard the brat gasp in annoyance and ask 'Why?!' but Levi ignored him, smirking to himself. He didn't say his patience was perfect…just better than before.


	3. Meeting

**Another chapter is here. Please drop in review if you have time, it'd be much appreciated. **** The idea from this chapter came from my friend Beth (Prussia's awesome sister).**

Emily wasn't happy. The entire class had been called in for a meeting with Levi which was unbearable in itself. Putting up with Jean was bad enough but doing that plus the confined space they'd been allocated…tch, it was annoying to say the least. There was barely any breathing room and she didn't even get to choose who she was sat next to. She silently prayed to the heavens when she found herself sitting next to the trainee that Levi had been fawning over earlier. She shuffled about on her seat excitedly, chatting to the blonde she was set next to this morning about a book she'd read recently whilst he nodded with interest. After she'd finished conversing with Arlert, the trainee turned her body to face Emily. Oh god.

"Hey, I'm Beth!" she held out her hand as a greeting. Emily looked opposite the crowded room, the eccentric girl next to her being too close for her own personal comfort.

"Emily" she replied, leaving Beth's hand outstretched. The older girl dropped her arm in disappointment and looked away awkwardly before shaking it off and looking back at the stoic girl next to her. _Take a hint brat!_

"So… you wanna talk boys?" What. The. Hell. Emily looked at Beth, her eyebrow raised.

"Boys?" The cadet nodded excitedly her giddiness annoying Emily further with each bounce. Levi had already begun talking to the room but upon hearing that his speech's topic was about the recent increase of stolen food, Emily completely ignored him, knowing full well who the culprit was. _Come on, who doesn't… Idiot brother of mine, calling me into a meeting for this shit._

"Yeah, boys! Anyone here take your fancy?" Beth asked excitedly Emily deadpanned her again.

"I don't have the time or patience for petty, time-wasting activities such as dating…"

"Oh come on, everyone has someone here that they want to get under the sheets with…" Emily raised her eyebrow yet again.

"Everyone? Even you?" Beth giggled and went to whisper in the younger girl's ear.

"Well, I think the corporal is quite…sexy. He's quite short of course but damn… that voice gives me shivers." Emily's mouth opened slightly in shock. She did NOT want to think of her brother in that way. Not at all… Sure, she appreciated that he was good looking but his sex life was not something Emily wanted on her mind. Beth seemed to realise this and laughed quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry… I forgot he was your brother… I doubt you want to think of things like that." Before Emily had a chance to reply, Beth had turned around and resumed her conversation with Armin. She heard a quiet laugh on the other side of her and turned to her right to see Jaeger, laughing under his breath.

"Got a problem, Jaeger?" The brunette looked at Emily, a smile still on his face.

"Nope, it's just that…that was a pretty awkward conversation…" Emily stared at the older teen.

"No shit Jaeger, now concentrate on the lecture." Eren laughed again before staring at Emily.

"Oh, please… we all know it was Sasha, and so does your brother… "Emily never realised how close Eren actually was until their sides were pressed up this tightly against each other. Every time she inhaled she caught his musky scent invading her nostrils and even she had to admit it was driving her crazy. His breathy voice sent shivers up her spine and if he touched her one more time, she swore she wouldn't be responsible for her actions, cramped space or otherwise. She looked into his emerald eyes and not bothering to dwell on how cheesy and cliché it was, she found herself getting lost in them. Once she was given a moment, she started to appreciate how beautiful the boy actually was. His brown hair was slightly ruffled, giving him a messy, but handsome look. His breath was heavy due to the body heat of the people in the small room they'd been situated in.

Before Emily could do something she'd regret, she heard the voice of Hanji on the other side of the door with she had her back to asking if anyone was in the room. Not having a chance to stop her, the door opened and the entire row of chairs, including Eren, Beth and Emily were flung forward causing various people to fall forwards. Beth flew straight into Levi, her back pressed against his abs as she blushed. Beth didn't have a chance to get up before the corporal decided that he was going to get his way there and then.

"Don't move and don't react" he whispered in her ear whilst moving his hips against her backside, grinding against her. Beth's eyes widened as she blushed furiously.

"L-levi.. they don't even know you talk to me… much less that we're dati-AH!" She yelped as she felt Levi push against her harshly. He whispered in her ear again, almost driving her crazy.

"Fine, but I want you in my office at 9 tonight. Or else…" Beth nodded as Levi let her go to collect herself and noticed for the first time the scene on the floor.

Eren Jaeger. On top of his sister. His leg between hers. His hand… on her breast. It was obviously an accident as a result of the door opening but that didn't stop the rage flaring in his stomach.

Emily opened her eyes and saw Eren on top of her. He was looking at her apologetically, looking embarrassed at the position they were in. But before the girl had a chance to kick his ass, her mind went into overdrive. She found herself shuffling her body down so that Eren's leg was pressing harder into her crotch and giving her sensations that she didn't even knew she could experience. Her right arm found itself on his back; pulling him closer and her left snaked its way into his hair as she closed the distance between their lips to join them. The kiss was heated as Emily opened Eren's lips with her own and teased his tongue with her own. Before she knew it, he'd pinned both of his hands either side of her head and delved his own tongue into her mouth, exploring it completely, not leaving any space untouched. She moaned into his mouth as he sucked on the muscle, tugging on it and claiming it as his own. Emily whimpered slightly in disappointment as she felt Eren being roughly pulled away from her. She oened her eyes to see what the interruption was and visibly flinched when she saw her brother looming over her. The whole room was staring at them and Eren was staring at her, a faint blush still painting his cheeks. Levi dragged her up and carried her out of the room leading her to his office. They travelled there in silence and when they reached their destination, Levi shoved her down on the chair and stared at her before speaking to the still flustered, and highly aroused, girl.

"We need to talk." She looked up at him and nodded breathlessly.

"Yeah, we do."


	4. Some form of escape

**Next chapter's here! Many thanks to **_**wolfgirl3090 **_**and **_**AOTotaku**_** for the reviews! **

"What the fuck do you think you were doing?!" Emily was laid back in the chair she'd been pushed into, her head hanging back, still recovering from the recent experience. She looked at the perfectly clean ceiling and stayed silent, ignoring her brother's question. She was still panting heavily and her lips were swollen slightly from the pressure that had been previously applied. Her raven hair was a mess, strands plastered to her heated face and her sides coming undone from her signature hairpin.

"I am fucking talking to you cadet." Emily stopped her panting to look at Levi, their grey eyes meeting each other. Her usually deadpan expression hardened as she glared at her brother before whispering under her breath, so quietly that he barely heard her.

"Cadet… That's what it always is, isn't it Levi?" he looked at her, his expression growing. His previously angry face now becoming perplexed.

"What?" She scoffed and stood up, straightening her uniform and fixing her hair before standing in front of him, refusing to be intimidated despite the two inch height difference between them. Her brother was short, but she was shorter, having to angle her eyes upwards to look at him dead in the monotonous face.

"Do this cadet, don't do that cadet. Ignore the fact that I'm fucking the trainee and focus on not being able to have a romance of your own cadet. Don't bother being happy cadet because you'll just _die anyway"_ Levi stared at his sister, his expression beyond shocked and heading more towards disbelief. She never blew up like this, she always stayed calm and collected, but this was different. He couldn't help her anymore, she'd grown up too much. Levi finally regained his composure and spoke.

"How long have you known?" Emily looked down as she answered his question.

"Since you cancelled our training session and she wasn't in the mess hall." Levi nodded and sat down on his desk, folding his arms and staring at the young girl in front of him who was clearly fighting tears. He didn't want to see her upset, he didn't want her to hate him. He wanted to lean over to her and hold her in his arms like she was one year old again and tell her stories of the heroes with the wings, but if he did that, she'd hurt when another loved one died. Despite this, he still reached out for her and attempted to touch her arm, only to have her pull herself away from him.

"I want to feel. I want to live and see the ocean, the mountains and the meadows. I want to be happy again and I want to fall in love and have 2.5 children in a little house by the river. I want to wake up every day and have someone there who loves me and doesn't hesitate to tell me."

"We all want that Em-" Levi was cut off by the sight of seeing his sister's fists clenched as she stared at the floor, droplets of water finally falling from her eyes.

"But do you know what I want most, _heichou_?" she, putting emphasis on the title, knowing it would piss him off. He had no choice but to answer.

"What?" He nearly cried himself when she lifted her head up to look at him, her pale face contrasting her read puffy eyes and the floods of silent tears tumbling down her cheeks.

"I want my brother to love me. I want to wake up knowing he's there for me and that I can go to him for anything. I want him to be my best friend. I want him to laugh with me and cry with me like family should." Levi refused to let the tears escape his eyes, not wanting to show his sister how much her words hurt.

"Emily" he spoke in a calm, authoritive voice, "I _am_ your brother". Emily shook her head and looked her brother dead in the eye as she spoke the words that would make humanity's strongest die inside.

"You're not my brother. You're just a shell with his face" Before Levi could reply, she stormed out of the room just as Beth entered it. The moment Emily left the room Beth had no choice but to run to Levi. Because as his sister left him, Levi fell to his knees and screamed, the tears finally cascading down his cheeks.

Emily ran to the stables and mounted her horse, satchel and 3DMG already loaded, before turning it round and riding it outside the gates. She stopped at the remains of Wall Maria, contemplating whether it was a good idea to go or not. Maybe it would be best to turn around and leap back into Levi's arms telling him that she was sorry. _No_, She thought. _I need to be free. I need to fly. _She urged her horse to speed up as it galloped across the titan filled land before slowing down at an abandoned cave. Emily dismounted her horse and sealed the entrance before using a pack of matches left in her satchel to light a few torches. As she turned around she saw a figure inside the cave with her. Her eyes widened in shock, recognising it immediately.

"Eren?! What the actual fuck?" The titan shifter smiled looking at the small girl.

"I followed you, there's no way you'd survive on your own. You're not the only one who wants to be free. Granted, I don't have a possessive brother… just a possessive sister…"Eren looked to the side as he digressed from his original topic before snapping back to reality and finishing his point with a simple sentence.

"I don't like the military pigs watching over me either." Emily still stood her ground.

"Mikasa and Armin will be worried… so will Le- "Emily stopped mid-sentence. It hurt to think about him and she couldn't possibly say his name. Eren walked towards her and grasped her hand.

"You're more important. I'm going to sound like a gigantic dick but… I felt something when we kissed." He looked to the side bashfully, embarrassed at his own words. "I think we had a connection…"

Emily gasped inaudibly but leant in and placed her forehead on Eren's prior to pressing her lips against his before pulling him into a tight embrace and whispering in his ear.

"So did I" Eren smiled and took off his green cloak to create a space for them to lie down on. Emily reached into her satchel, pulling out a thin blanket before laying down next to Eren, draping the cloth over them both. The latter put his arm around Emily, pulling her close to him ad sharing his body warmth before kissing her lightly on the nose despite the fact that she was already asleep. And before he knew it, Eren fell asleep too.


	5. Why do you care?

**Here's the next chapter. Special thanks to **_**AOTotaku**_**, **_**Guest**_** and **_**actuallythatsmine **_**for the reviews. Special thank you to **_**Alda **_**who gave constructive criticism with which I will try my best to improve the story.**

Emily slowly opened her eyes, blinking in the brightness of the torch that had been recently lit and hung on the wall next to her. She groggily sat upright and took a moment to organise her thoughts. _I kissed Eren. I insulted Levi. I ran away. Eren followed me. Well, shit. _Before Emily could stop regretting getting herself getting into this situation and start catching up at all the teenage fantasies that she'd missed she heard a quiet laughing sound emerging from the side of her. Looking over, she saw Eren hunched over the campfire with his arm covering his mouth to disguise his giggles. She frowned slightly, her face contorting into a puzzled expression whilst Eren's laughter increased significantly, echoing throughout their smaller hideout. Finally, he finished laughing and wiped his eye before revealing to the young girl next to him the source of his amusement.

"I'm sorry, it's just… you look funny in the morning… your hair…." Eren smiled as he reached into the bag that he'd brought with him and fished out a mirror, passing it to the perplexed girl in front of him. As she looked into it, her eyes widened. The make-up she had been wearing yesterday had smeared, leaving her eyes with black smudges and pink smudges across her cheek. Her hair was a mess to say the least, her curls had fallen out and the raven locks stuck up at odd angles whilst still maintaining their wavy appearance. Eren was still laughing, grinning at her like some kind of lovesick puppy.

"You look so cute, Em…" This made Emily stop her train of thought and look at the teen next to her. She lowered the mirror slowly and spoke to Eren in a firm, but gentle voice.

"Em…?" Eren nodded.

"Yeah, it's a cut nickname don't you think? If you want, you can think of one for me and-" Emily shook her head.

"Please don't call me that Eren." The said boy dropped his grin and sat next to her, wrapping his arm round her comfortingly and resting his chin on her head.

"Do you want to tell me why?" Emily threaded her hand through Eren's soft hair, enjoying its texture and enjoying the way that the locks wound through her individual fingers.

"Levi used to call me that every day. He never called me anything else. It was always 'Em, can you pick that up for me?' 'Em, can you sing to me?" "Em, can you pass me that knife?"" Eren paused and tilted his head questioningly at the now trembling girl, unsure of how to handle the situation that had revealed itself. Emily carried on shaking, but not from cold as the torches provided more than enough heat to keep them at a comfortable temperature. Eren stayed silent, not wanting to rush her into an explanation, he rubbed her shoulder to comfort her. He waited patiently for her to finally speak, and when she did, he listened intently.

"We lived underground after our parents died. We had nobody to turn to, nowhere to go. Who'd wanna take in a pair of orphaned siblings, one traumatised and shaking and the other refusing to let go of her hand… In the end we just decided to make our own way. We both did things we weren't proud of but… he normally dealt with the more gruesome tasks like threatening people and beating them up whereas I focused on theft and smuggling. There was one time… I was grabbed by a dirty old pervert whose intentions were unknown to me at that point. Before he could bundle me in his carriage Levi had kicked him to the floor and beat him to death with a mop handle. I remember he lifted me out of that truck and held me as I cried into his shoulder. He told me again that night 'Don't cry, hold it in and don't let it hurt you. Use it to make you stronger.' I thought it would make me the strongest. I kept thinking that until I met you Eren… "

Eren smiled fondly of the memory when he met Emily. He'd entered the mess hall for the first time since joining the military and she was there. He remembered being gobsmacked at her petite figure and her outstanding beauty. He loved her raven locks and the way she walked across the room. He could tell she was trying her best to be strong and purposeful but she still curled in on herself to give off a slight air of timidity. Eren snapped back to reality when said girl spoke again.

"I saw you and I thought 'He's been through so much…you can see it in his eyes… but he just uses it to make him stronger without losing himself'. You didn't lose yourself Eren, you stayed you. I couldn't do that and now I'm scared I'll never be able to go back to who I am. I don't even know who that is anymore." Emily lowered her head, tears silently falling down her pale face. Eren held her tighter but instead of snuggling into him; Emily looked up in shock, her eyes wide and afraid.

"Eren… I don't want to get closer to you…or you'll…" Eren looked at her dead in the grey eyes that he thought were more stunning than the stars that he'd always snuck out to gaze at with Armin.

"Emily… I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay with you until we die when we're old and grey. Not in the stomach of a titan or at the barrel of a government owned gun." Emily nodded and thanked Eren before standing up, only to find a weight tumble down her back and land on the floor with a 'clunk'. Looking down, she saw the butterfly hairpin on the stone floor of their cave, broken into two pieces. Leaning down, Emily went to pick the pieces up but Eren beat her to it, studying them carefully in his hands.

"I can fix this… leave it with me…" he smiled at the raven haired beauty before putting the hairpin into his satchel. Emily looked at the shifter before asking him the question that had been nagging her since she first found out he'd followed her.

"Why are you helping me? Why do you care?" Eren looked up in shock at the sudden doubt in motive before softening his expression and answering calmly and truthfully.

"Because I want to find the real Emily. The girl I fell in love with before I even met her. I want to get ris off your mask and get you back to being that girl that you've forgotten. And after that's done, I'm going to reunite you with your brother and we're all going to fight the titans together, without worrying about everyone dying." Emily nodded.

"Thank you" It wasn't much, just two words spoken as unemotionally as those of a robot, but it was enough in Eren's mind. And if he knew anything, he knew that the tears earlier were a brilliant start.


End file.
